Central African Republic joins hands with SML Gold to trial G.I.F.T.

African dignitaries, international financial experts, and representatives from an American cybertechnology firm recently attended a closed-door conference in the UAE to discuss the development and impact of a ground-breaking new technology platform for gold transfer pioneered by Dubai-based SML Gold.

Named Gold International Fast Transfer (G.I.F.T.), this technology aims to restructure and revolutionise the way precious metals such as gold are exchanged globally. It has the potential to transform not just the gold industry, but also the economic systems of countries rich in such resources.

Transfer of wealth

“G.I.F.T.  enables the easy movement of gold across continents and makes the transferability of gold, therefore wealth, from one point to the other simpler,” says Mohamed Yoro Diallo, former Vice President of Citibank New York and Board Member of Vista Bank and Orabank, who participated in the conference.

The focus of this conference was the socio-economic significance of the platform for major gold-producing African nations, in particular the Central African Republic (CAR), with Pascal Bida Koyagbélé, Minister of Strategic Investments and Major Projects, CAR, in attendance.

“Many African countries such as CAR are rich in not only gold but other mineral resources,” explains Diallo. “And they are all hampered by the movement of funds from one country in Africa to another, and to outside of the continent. So G.I.F.T. is a system of transfer to facilitate the movement of wealth between Africa and the rest of the world, and within Africa itself.”

CAR becomes one of the first African nations to form a partnership with SML Gold and participate as a gold-producing hub in the proof of concept of the G.I.F.T. project that will roll out this year. The project is the brainchild of Fayçal Lalioui, Founder and Chairman, SML Gold and is the latest innovation of the Dubai Souk-based company that specialises in secure gold transportation, global door-to-door logistics, and storage in its 400-vault facility, as well as the design and production of bespoke jewellery.

“It's a very good example of PPP, a public-private partnership,” says Koyagbélé. “The government of the Central African Republic has decided to work with SML Gold to see how we can develop, promote and implement this project properly for the benefit of the population and the development of the country.”

Socio-economic development

The country’s partnership with SML Gold will have far-reaching effects on CAR’s economy and will provide the government with concrete solutions to the challenges it currently faces because of the financial and strategic leverage that gold provides, according to the minister.

“First, SML Gold offers us the opportunity to better finance the gold mining sector, and second, they can help us to better control and develop the sector. And the development of the sector can create a lot of jobs,” says Koyagbélé. “That’s going to have a big impact on the economy, and on the population, obviously.”

But the potential for socio-economic growth and development goes much farther, especially for a country with an estimated potential gold reserve of 4.8 thousand tons.

“Today, because of the geopolitical situation, gold plays a key role in terms of stability on the financial system. People prefer to trust gold over any other currency,” he says. “So, the development of the sector is going to help us become credible financially. Because of the massive estimated potential of gold in our country, we can use it as a collateral asset to raise a lot of money in the financial system.”

The increased financial credibility and more streamlined exchange of gold globally using SML Gold and G.I.F.T. means greater in-flow of foreign exchange, which in turn can also mean greater reduction of debt for the nation.

“Your capacity to reduce your debt depends on your capacity to export goods and services,” explains Diallo. “When you export goods and services to generate foreign exchange, you use that foreign exchange to pay the debt. So, if you accumulate more wealth through gold or other such mineral resources, you will be able to service your debt better because debt service is always in the ratio of your creation of foreign exchange.”

Professionalism and transparency

All of this is possible because of the fundamental principle on which the G.I.F.T. platform is founded, which is to bring transparency and integrity of exchange to an industry that has often lacked it in the past. This is the key change that SML Gold wants to establish in global gold transfer – modernising the way the precious metal is tracked and ensuring traceability of gold flows worldwide.

“Right now, most gold transactions are done informally, and statistics are not necessarily well-documented. Nobody knows how much gold is going out, and the tax revenue that the countries are generating from their gold is not identified,” says Diallo.

“The G.I.F.T. system gives clear statistics of the movement of gold within Africa and outside, so it makes it more professional, as opposed to the current informal system. And since G.I.F.T. platform makes the process more transparent, it helps monitor the creation of wealth in Africa.”

The implementation of the G.I.F.T. platform will provide greater transparency over gold exchanges within African nations.

“G.I.F.T. brings with it a pan-African vision, and it’s a good solution to help us work together to better control the exchange of gold,” says Koyagbélé. “When we do so, it can help us to fight against terrorist groups that currently use gold to finance illicit activities.”

Dreams of a nation

G.I.F.T. is a lot more than just efficient wealth transfer through gold. Once implemented, it can become a turnkey solution that allows countries to better protect their economic and political interests and close gaps and loopholes that deprive governments of their wealth.

For the Central African Republic, the partnership with SML Gold and the use of G.I.F.T. could possibly pave the way towards realising a long-standing goal of the president of the nation.

“With SML gold, we can improve our capacity to produce gold, to exchange gold, and implement the dream of the President to create a cryptocurrency based on gold,” he says.